Humble Prayer - Vayikra

Humble Prayer
Parshat Vayikra


This week we began studying the new book of Vaykira-Leviticus. This third book of the Torah, called "Torat Kohanim-The Book of the Kohanim", begins with the words " ויקרא - Vaykira Hashem El Moshe-And G-d called to Moses" (Vayikra 1:1).

What is so unique about this verse is that the letter "Aleph" in the word "Vayikra" is small, one of the very few instances in the entire Torah, where a letter is written either larger or smaller than the rest.

The question is why?

The small Aleph represents humility and our recognition that we must connect to the one true identity -almighty G-d.

As an educator in a Jewish Day School, one of my favorite events of the year is the Siddur Dedication.  This ceremony marks when the 1st Grade students receive their very own Siddur-prayer book. At this point in their education, the students have achieved a basic level of mastery of Hebrew reading and the prayers that enables them to graduate from a "baby Siddur" to the "big kid Siddur". They are able to read the Hebrew prayers and participate in the daily prayers, using a Hebrew Siddur. The songs, cute outfits and most of all, the excited look and joy on the faces of our precious students, is something I look forward to all year.

In the Jewish tradition, every day begins with Teffilah-Prayer. These precious morning moments, enable us to connect with Hashem and our 4000 year journey in Jewish history. They are arguably, the most important moments in our day, hence taking our first precious minutes of the day. Throughout our lives, in our happy moments and sad times, we continue to sail on the course charted. Regardless of the heavy rains or fog, we continue our journey to the "Promised Land".

A Siddur is similar to a compass or GPS. It allows us to connect, communicate and feel connected. But in order for the compass to work it must have humility. When we reach out to Hashem with humility and the understanding that we are dependent on His blessing, it creates the proper channel to receive the Almighty's holy blessings and it keeps us steady through thick and thin.

Hence the small Aleph in the word Vayikra. Its all about the humility.

Shabbat Shalom,

Kosher Vanity - Ki Tisa

Kosher Vanity
Parshat Ki Tisa


Vanity. A self indulging character trait. The obsession of looking good, glamorous and cool. The need and desire to have others look at you is not exactly what we would consider a spiritual pursuit.

Holiness, A focus on Hashem and spiritual things. Focusing not on the physical and material, but on the deeper message and meaning of things.

How can two diametrically opposed ideas become one?

In this week's portion of Ki Tisa we read how Moshe was commanded to construct the Kiyor (Wash Basin) for the Kohanim-priests to wash their hands and feet prior to doing the service in the sanctuary. It was made of copper and filled with fresh water.

The Midrash tells us that the copper for this Kiyor came from the donations of the Jewish women. The women had kept their copper mirrors that they had used in Egypt to make themselves pretty and attractive to their husbands, and now they wanted to donate these mirrors to the sanctuary. Moshe, our sages tell us, was very reluctant to accept these mirrors, as they represented vanity and physical attraction, not exactly what you would expect for building of a sanctuary.

But Hashem told Moshe not only to accept them, but to melt them down and use the copper for the Kiyor, a primary vessel in the sanctuary. The Kiyor was the one service that preceded every other service in the Mishkan. The reason? These mirrors were holy as they were used to keep Jewish families together during the most difficult of times.

Vanity in general may be a bad trait, but these special women had an ulterior G-dly motive in mind. They were trying to keep their families together. That is considered pretty important by G-d.

Shabbat Shalom